A cork from a bottle of wine floats in rainwater at the festival. ( James Nielsen / Chronicle )

Photo By James Nielsen

Sheri Heine, left, her daughter Sophie, 11, Elaine Makris, and her daughter Tara, 15, wait in line for Souvlaki at the Greek Festival.

Photo By James Nielsen

Price Lewis eats Souvlaki under his umbrella as he enjoys the Original Greek Festival, which waived its entry fee Sunday to bring people out in the rain.

Photo By James Nielsen

A car drives through rain along Memorial near Shepherd.

Photo By Nick de la Torre

Mark Perez, left, of Spring, and Lance Tarin, of Houston, tail gate by a rare rain puddle before the Texans game at Reliant on Sunday.

Photo By Eric Christian Smith

John Huston, right, loads his clubs with an assist from his caddie after the final round of the Insperity Classic was canceled because of rain on Sunday in The Woodlands.

Finally, it rained.

Houston officially recorded 3 inches of rain through Sunday evening, the most the city has received in a single day since July 2, 2010, when more than 5 inches fell.

Most areas in Harris and surrounding counties recorded at least 2 inches of rain with some locations, such as Pearland, getting 5 or more.

The rain will not bust the region's drought - Houston remains more than 22 inches below normal for the year - but coming as temperatures are beginning to cool down it should provide some significant short-term relief for yards, trees and wildlife.

Still, the storm caused a host of problems, including flooding, car accidents and a power outage at the Hobby Airport control tower. Events were canceled or dampened by the rain.

"The animals are pairing off out there," said Brian Claar, tournament director of the Insperity Championship at The Woodlands Country Club Tournament Course, where play was stopped at 12:42 p.m. after heavy rain.

Sunday's storms were sparked by a low-pressure system in the upper levels of the atmosphere. As the system should move north Monday, rain chances will taper off, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures should warm back into the upper 80s and low 90s by midweek, and it appears as though a moderate cool front should move through Thursday.

'It's a beginning'

Daytime temperatures should remain warm, near 90, in the wake of the front, but overnight lows should drop to around 60 degrees for inland areas.

The rainfall was not nearly enough to raise hope among farmers, who suffered huge losses this year.

"Well, it's a beginning," said Michael Watz, 37, who had to plow under nearly 1,000 acres of his 2,500-acre farm in El Campo, where he harvests cotton, corn and milo. "We've got a long way to go, though, to catch up. I don't think we'll ever catch up."

Watz did not expect the wide cracks in the dry earth on his farm to close any time soon.

The rain was "pretty typical for this time of the year, when we start to transition from summertime to fall. That's when we get a lot of weather systems and cold fronts," McKinney said.

Some of the highest rain totals - more than 2½ inches - came down at Hobby Airport, where lightning struck and knocked out power to the control tower about 3:40 p.m.

A backup power system did not kick in, so officials were working late Sunday to direct flights from other points at the airport while they attempted to start the backup power system.

The last time Hobby Airport saw that much rainfall was Jan. 24, when 2.3 inches fell, McKinney said.

Rescue in the bay

The storm stranded a boatload of people early Sunday morning at Mitchells Cut near Matagorda Bay, forcing a Coast Guard rescue.

Crews navigated through low visibility and wind gusts of 46 mph to find the 16-foot aluminum flat bottom boat that had been intentionally grounded when the bad weather rolled in, Petty Officer Rick Brahm said. Six children and four adults were aboard.

Freeway crash

The slick weather also may have contributed to the driver of an 18-wheeler losing control on the Katy Freeway near Taylor Street, police said. Some west lanes of the freeway were shut down Sunday afternoon while a hazmat team cleaned up diesel gas fuel that spilled in the crash.

Attendance at both the Renaissance Festival and the Original Greek Festival also lagged Sunday.

The Greek fest waived its entry fee Sunday to help entice visitors to come out in the bad weather, said Doug Harris, a spokesman for the festival.

"We still have a number of faithful who traditionally come out on Sun- days and still came out despite the bad weather," he said.